Tax Cut Should Cut Into Goldman’s Q4 Earnings

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) said on Friday it expects fourth-quarter earnings to decrease by about $5 billion due to the new U.S. tax law signed by President Donald Trump last week.

Around two-thirds of the $5-billion decrease is due to repatriation tax, Goldman said in a statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

However, the impact of the tax legislation may differ from the estimate, according to the bank.

Congress last week approved a U.S. tax overhaul, the biggest in 30 years, which includes steep tax cuts for corporations and wealthy taxpayers.

The new law significantly lowers the income tax rate for U.S. companies—to 21% from 35%—allowing them to repatriate cash from overseas, and modifies numerous deductions, among other changes.

Nor is Goldman alone in this boat: the tax overhaul will allow Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to bring back its $252.3 billion foreign cash pile without a major tax hit—a long-standing company goal.

Drugmaker Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) last Friday also said it expects to incur tax expenses of $6 billion to $6.5 billion over time as it repatriates cash it has accumulated around the world because of the new law.

GS says two-thirds of the reduction is due to the repatriation tax, with the remainder including the implementation of the territorial tax system and the re-measurement of U.S. deferred tax assets at lower corporate tax rates.